Austrian Squash Open first round – Aqeel Rehman last remaining Austrian player in the quarterfinal
The Austrian Open has started today on the all-glasscourt at EUROPARK Salzburg shopping mall. The 6.000 USD PSA worldranking tournament takes place in Salzburg for the 18th time in a row. Since 2015 the event has been upgraded to the center court of the shopping mall to get the maximum exposure like no other squash event in Austria!
A total of eight matches were scheduled and some of the seeded players were tested intensely by their opponents with unseeded James Peach (ENG, WRL 172) actually beating third seed Ivan Perez (ESP, WRL 98) 3/2 and therefore causing the biggest upset of the day!
Defending Champion and runner-up from 2021 Yannik Omlor (GER, WRL 94) and Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI, WRL 96) also reached the quarterfinal. However Swiss Yannick had to battle for five games to overcome his opponent Perry Malik (ENG, WRL 179).
His swiss compatriot and eight seed Robin Gadola (SUI, WRL 139) took four games to beat Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE, WRL 188) and fourth seed Diego Gobbi didn’t even drop a game against Nilo Vidal (ESP, WRL 208).
It was then time of the Austrian trio to represent the local interests. Wildcard entry Lukas Windischberger (AUT, WRL 243) and Salzburg born Jakob Dirnberger had to play higher seeded players and were facing tough tasks.
Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP, WRL 132) was too strong for Lukas and won 3/0. In similar style Christopher Binnie (runner-up 2017) overcame Jakob Dirnberger 3/0. Both Austrians showed a solid performance, as well as the international pros and so justifying their seeding. It was then eventually up to 16-times Austrian Champion Aqeel Rehman (WRL 121) to keep the home hopes alive.
The 36-year old Aqeel could resist the pressure and beat Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR, WRL 175) in a close encounter 3/2. The Ukrainian number one is of course facing a tough time and despite his situation he showed a great performance and it was an enrichment to welcome him. We wish him and his family all the best for the future!
The quarterfinals take place on Thursday from 15:30 onwards with Austrian hope Aqeel Rehman having his match last on at 18:30. Once again there will be free entrance at EUROPARK to watch the matches.
Here are the full results from all first round matches and line ups of the quarterfinals:
12:00: [2] Yannik Omlor (GER, WRL 96) – Elliott Morris Devred (WAL, WRL 162) 11/8, 11/8, 11/9 37min
13:00: James Peach (ENG, WRL 172) – [3] Ivan Perez (ESP, WRL 98) 11/8, 6/11, 10/12, 11/8/, 11/5 59min
13:45: [8] Robin Gadola (SUI, WRL 139) – Ondrej Vorlícek (CZE, WRL 188) 11/1, 10/12, 11/2, 11/7 42min
14:30: [4] Diego Gobbi (BRA, WRL 118) – Nilo Vidal (ESP, WRL 208) 11/1, 11/9, 11/5 27min
15:30: [1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI, WRL 94) – Perry Malik (ENG, WRL 179) 11/8, 8/11, 11/13, 11/8, 11/4 62min
16:30: [6] Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP, WRL 132) – [WC] Lukas Windischberger (AUT, WRL 243) 11/4, 11/3, 11/4 28min
17:30: [7] Christopher Binnie (JAM, WRL 135) – Jakob Dirnberger (AUT, WRL 174) 11/5, 11/4, 11/6 23min
18:30: [5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 121) – Valeriy Fedoruk (UKR, WRL 175) 16/18, 11/5, 11/4, 9/11, 11/3 59min
15:30: [7] Christopher Binnie (JAM, WRL 135) – James Peach (ENG, WRL 172)
16:30: [2] Yannik Omlor (GER, WRL 96) – [6] Sergio Garcia Pollan (ESP, WRL 132)
17:30: [1] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI, WRL 94) – [8] Robin Gadola (SUI, WRL 139)
18:30: [5] Aqeel Rehman (AUT, WRL 121) – [4] Diego Gobbi (BRA, WRL 118)
All pics are free to use under the reference of your photographer Jasmin Walter. There are more pictures in the gallery.
